Coat Colors

Learn about horse & pony coat colors

Horse & Pony Coat Color Examples

Some Well Known Colors Include:

Chestnut

Chestnut horses (also known as sorrel) are a reddish-brown color with the same color or lighter mane and tail. They vary from light golden-red to dark brown known as Liver Chestnut. The mane and tail may also be a blond color, also known as a Flaxen Chestnut.

Palomino

Palomino horses & ponies have a golden colored coat with a white or cream colored mane and tail.

Bay

Bay horses & ponies have a brown or reddish-brown body with black points on their legs, and a black mane and tail.

Dark Bay

Dark Bay horses have a deep brown red body color which can almost look black, with black points on their legs, and a black mane and tail.

Gray

Gray or Grey horses & ponies are born with a solid base color such as chestnut or bay, and slowly become lighter grey as they get older. The graying process often starts when foals shed their baby coat, although it can take several years for the gray color to show.

Dun

Dun colored horses & ponies have a golden colored body with a black mane, tail & legs. To be considered a Dun, the horse must have a dark dorsal stripe & many will display dark striping on their shoulders, legs & forehead. If they do not have the dorsal stripe, they are considered a Buckskin.

Appaloosa

The Appaloosa color coat has small round spots or speckles. They can have a dark base coat with light spots, white with dark spots, roan with patches of spots, or have a dark base coat with a white “blanket” and spots over the hindquarters.

Liver Chestnut

Liver Chestnut horses are a dark brown Chestnut color with the same color or lighter mane and tail.

Cremello

Cremello colored horses are not white, but are cream colored from birth. They have a light mane and tail, pink skin and blue eyes.

Light Bay

Light Bay horses & ponies have a light red to almost golden yellow body color with black points on their legs, and a black mane and tail.

Brown

A Brown colored horse looks like black, but has a brown sheen in the sunlight. It also looks like dark bay, but not all points are black.

Dapple Gray

Gray horses are born with a solid base color such as chestnut or bay, and slowly become lighter grey as they get older. The graying process often starts when foals shed their baby coat, although it can take several years for the gray color to show. Dapples can appear between the ages of 4 and 12 as the horse gets lighter as they age. Horses with any base color can dapple.

Buckskin

Buckskin horses & ponies have a golden colored body with a black mane, tail & legs. They are very similar in color to a Dun, although they will not display dark striping on their shoulders, legs & forehead, or a dorsal stripe down their back.

Pinto

A Pinto colored pony has white colored patches plus large patches of black, brown, chestnut or any other colors.

There are different types of pinto coloring:

Piebald is a type of spotting that has large patches of 50% white with 50% black.

Skewbald is a type of spotting with any other color and white. They usually have large patches of 50% white and 50% brown or chestnut.

Tobiano is a type of spotting with large smooth patches of white. The patches go over the top line of the horse’s back with white legs. It does not need to be 50-50 distribution of white and another color.

Flaxen Chestnut

Flaxen Chestnut horses are a reddish-brown Chestnut color with the a lighter or blond mane and tail.

Grulla

Grulla or Grullo colored horses have the Dun gene and appear to be mouse-colored or tan-grey. They have dark tips on their ears, a dark face and legs, and have a dorsal stripe that runs down their back. Grulla horse & ponies often have dark stripes on their legs, forehead, back, shoulders or neck.

Blood Bay

Blood Bay horses & ponies have a deep blood-red body color with black points on their legs, and a black mane and tail.

Black

Black horses & ponies have no brown or red hair. They may have white markings on face or legs.

Flea-Bitten Gray

A Brown colored horse looks like black, but has a brown sheen in the sunlight. It also looks like dark bay, but not all points are black.

Strawberry Roan

Strawberry Roan horses & ponies, also known as Red Roan, have a chestnut base coat with white hairs mixed in that creates a slightly mottled appearance. This creates a range of colors that have a pink tint to the body color. Strawberry Roans keep their base color on their heads, manes and tails.

Blue Roan

Blue Roan horses have a bay or black base coat with white hairs mixed in to create a slightly mottled appearance. This creates a range of colors that can have a blue tint. Blue Roan horses keep their base color on their heads, manes and tails.

Overo

Overo is a type of spotting with large jagged patches of white. The patches do not go over the top of the horse or pony’s back. Patches go under the horse’s belly. It does not need to be 50-50 distribution of white and another color.